MANY FACETS: Salman Khan
You could write an entire book on Salman Khan’s temperament and still not really understand it. There are many reckless and negative facets to it — poacher of protected animals, drunk driver who allegedly ran over a pavement dweller, abuser of his one-time girlfriend Aishwarya Rai as per an open letter she wrote in the media 12 years ago, brash and impudent, unpunctual on the sets.
And to set it off is the other positive side — someone always on call to help others, who is unfazed by flops and hits, who is honest in his opinions, who has no insecurity and encourages young actors to become stars, who has a pulse on the audience, who maintains good relations with all his ex-girlfriends, except Aishwarya.
There is then the fact that this man is also a painter and not a bad one at that. And now comes another bit of information of a new facet of Salman — that he is into organic farming. A newspaper reported recently that in his farmhouse in the outskirts of Mumbai, Salman is growing a number of vegetables and he does a lot of work on it personally.
The report quoted his father Salim as saying that he had never seen Salman so passionately interested in anything. What does he do with the vegetables? He brings them home to his Mumbai residence and feeds them to his entire family.
And then what is left over he also gives to friends. Earlier he used to gift his paintings but now with the farmer touch it is pumpkins, potatoes and tomatoes. It is said that this new passion began after he gave up on vices like tobacco and alcohol.
And maybe it is this new found energy that has prompted him to take on a triple role in the sequel to No Entry. That is also another first for Salman.
The serious one
2 States, the film adaptation of Chetan Bhagat book, is about to release this week. It stars Alia Bhatt and Arjun Kapoor, two of the most upcoming stars of the new generation. They are both from Bollywood families and already there are whispers that they might have a relationship going.
That there is a kissing scene in the movie has also added fuel to the rumours of the link up. They keep getting asked about it in interviews and give interesting answers. Alia even compared it to slapping!
But recently, in an interview to a newspaper, Arjun suddenly revealed a rather surprising bit of his past. He was asked about relationships and he revealed that he had only had a serious one and that was with Arpita Khan, the sister of Salman Khan. Turns out it was some time ago when he was just 18 and did not have any of the rugged handsome look.
He was completely obese, about 140kg and had no dreams of ever becoming an actor. He in fact had always thought that he would be a director. When he started seeing Arpita he went and told this to Salman because he was afraid of him.
Perhaps because of that it was Salman who started to prod him into acting. Arjun said in the interview that Arpita broke up with him after two years but his equation with Salman continued. Salman’s mentoring completely changed the fate of Arjun. He is now in the big league and for someone who was the fattest person in the room, it is an extraordinary journey to have made.
Vote conflict
Elections are going on in India and Bollywood gets dragged into it in some way or the other. An initiative by a music channel to encourage people to vote saw Soha Ali Khan speaking at an event about the duty of voting. She said those who don’t vote have no right to complain about the numerous scams rocking the country.
And to just stress the point, later one heard news that Soha had cancelled an appearance in an awards show in the United States because she wanted to be in Mumbai on the day that voting happens. All that was fine but her brother Saif Ali Khan obviously had not heard her.
Because, almost the same time came news that Saif would not be voting this time. And the reason was that he had chosen to go the awards event that Soha did not. His excuse was that he was contractually bound to participate in it and that the dates had been fixed half a year ago.
What makes the irony all the more interesting is that last year, before the Delhi state elections, Saif had actually participated in an event asking people to vote.
Campaigning pangs
Speaking of elections, Hema Malini’s in the fray, campaigning in the heat and dust of interior India to become a parliamentarian. When her husband Dharmendra first heard about her desire to become a politician, he was not very sure about it.
Having himself been a member of parliament once and done little to show for it, his ambivalence was understandable. He is in any case not being seen much along with Hema Malini as she does the circuit of her constituency.
She, herself, it is said remains cooped up inside an air-conditioned vehicle most of the time on the campaign trail, though her name itself is enough to get crowds lined up along the road.
Once when she did get out to make a token gesture of empathy for the rural folk, it boomeranged a little. She decided that drawing water out of a hand pump would be a good photo op. But the pump turned to me a lot less obliging than she thought. And the photo that did make it to the newspapers was a Hema trying to use all her might to pump, her teeth gritting with exertion and with very little water coming out.
As they say, one should play to your strengths and not experiment too much when embarking on a new journey.
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